Final Text

The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

"Authorized inspector" means any person employed by a
state or federal regulatory plant pest agency and trained to inspect for and
identify boll weevil in any living stage.

"Board" means the Board of the Virginia Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"Boll weevil" means the live insect, "Anthonomus
grandis grandis" Boheman, in any stage of development.

"Boll Weevil Eradication and Exclusion Program" or
"program" means the program conducted by the Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Southeastern Boll Weevil Eradication
Foundation, Inc., to eradicate the boll weevil and subsequently prevent its
reintroduction into areas where it has been eradicated.

"Certificate" means a document issued or authorized
by an inspector to be issued under this chapter to allow the movement of
regulated articles to any destination.

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of the
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services or his designee.

"Compliance agreement" means a written agreement
between a grower, dealer, or mover of regulated articles, and the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, United States Department of
Agriculture, or both, wherein the former agrees to comply with the requirements
of the compliance agreement.

"Cotton" means parts and products of plants of the
genus "Gossypium," before processing.

"Cottonseed" means cottonseed from which the lint
has been removed.

"Department" means the Virginia Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services.

"FSA" means the United States Department of
Agriculture, Farm Service Agency.

"Gin trash" means all of the material produced
during the cleaning and ginning of seed cotton, bollies, or snapped cotton,
except for the lint, cottonseed, and gin waste.

"Grower" means a farm operator or producer, whether
the owner of the land or not.

"Infestation" means the presence of the boll weevil,
or the existence of circumstances that make it reasonable to believe that boll
weevil is present.

"Inspector" means any employee of the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or other person authorized by
the commissioner to enforce the provisions of the quarantine and regulations.

"Limited permit" means a document issued by an inspector
to allow the movement of noncertifiable regulated articles to a specified
destination for limited handling, use, processing, or treatment.

"Lint" means all forms of raw ginned cotton, either
baled or unbaled, except linters and waste.

"Moved (movement, move)""Move,"
"moved," or "movement" means shipped; offered for
shipment to a common carrier; received for transportation or transported by a
common carrier; or carried, transported, moved, or allowed to be moved by any
means.

"NASS" means the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
National Agricultural Statistics Service.

"Person" means any individual, corporation, company,
society, or association or other organized group.

"Regulated area" means any state or country in which
the boll weevil is known to exist or areas where circumstances make it
reasonable to believe that the boll weevil is present.

"Scientific permit" means a document issued by the
Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to authorize movement
of regulated articles to a specified destination for scientific purposes.

"Seed cotton" means cotton as it comes from the
field prior to ginning.

"Waybill" means a document containing the details
of a shipment of goods.

2VAC5-440-40

2VAC5-440-40. Requirements for program participation.

A. All cotton farm operators in Virginia are hereby required
to participate in the eradication/exclusion programBoll Weevil
Eradication and Exclusion Program. Participation shall include timely reporting
of acreage and field locations, compliance with regulations, and payment of
fees. Farm operators within the Commonwealth shall be notified through
either the extension offices, the department, FSA, or newspapers of their
program costs on a per acre basis on or before April 1 of each year.The
department shall notify farm operators of their program costs on a per acre
basis. The following procedures are required for participation in the
program:

1. Completing a Cotton Acreage Reporting Form atReport
cotton acreage and cotton field location or locations to the FSA office by
July 1 of the current growing season for which participation is required. At
this time the farm operator shall pay a nonrefundable fee in an amount
sufficient to cover estimated program costs as determined by the commissioner.
The commissioner shall set this fee following consultation with state, federal,
and private organizations responsible for implementation and funding of boll
weevil eradication/exclusion programs conducted in the Commonwealth. Such fee
shall be based upon prior year's expenses and projected cotton acreage for the
current growing season. Those farm operators not reporting their acreage by
July 1 will not be considered as program participants and will be subject to a
penalty.Any farm operator who does not report his cotton acreage and
cotton field location or locations by July 1 will not be considered a program
participant and may be subject to a penalty of 10% of the fee due for his
unreported cotton acreage.

2. All fees shall be paid by the farm operator.A
farm operator shall pay a nonrefundable fee in an amount sufficient to cover
estimated program costs as determined by the commissioner. Fees shall be
made payable to Treasurer of Virginia and collected by FSAand must
be paid within 30 days of the invoice date. The commissioner shall set this fee
following consultation with state, federal, and private organizations
responsible for the implementation and funding of the Boll Weevil Eradication
and Exclusion Program conducted in the Commonwealth.

3. Noncommercial cottonCotton grown for
noncommercial purposes shall not be planted in Virginia unless the grower
applies for and receives an exemption to grow cotton from the commissioner.
Applications, in writing, shall be made in writing to the Program
Manager, Office of Plant and Pest Services, 1100 Bank Street, Room 703,
Richmond, VA 23219commissioner, stating the conditions under which
the grower requests such exemption. The decision whether all or part of these
requirements shall be exempted shall be based on the following:

a. Location of growing area;

b. Size of growing area;

c. Pest conditions in the growing area;

d. Accessibility of growing area;

e. Any stipulations set forth in a compliance agreement between
the individual and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servicesdepartment
that are necessary for the effectuation of the program.

B. Farm operatorsA farm operator whose FSA
measured acreage, as determined by FSA, exceeds the grower
reported acreage that was reported by the farm operator by more than
10%, shall be assessed an additional $5.00 per acrea penalty
of 10% of the fee due on that acreage in excess of the reported acreage.

C. A farm operator may apply for a waiver requesting delayed
payment under conditions of financial hardship. Any farm operator applying for
a waiver shall make application in writing to the Program Manager, Office of
Plant and Pest Services, 1100 Bank Street, Richmond, VA 23219commissioner
stating the reason a waiver is necessary. This request must be
accompanied by a financial statement from a state or federally chartered bank
or lending agency supporting such request. The decision of whether to waive all
or part of these additional assessments or payment dates shall be made by the
program manager and notification given to the farm operator within two weeks
after receipt of such application. The commissioner's decision whether
to delay payment shall be based on, but not limited to, the
following: (i) meteorological conditions, (ii) economic conditions, and (iii)
any other uncontrollable destructive forces. If a waiver is granted, payment
shall be due at the time the cotton is sold, or by December 1within
30 days of the invoice date, whichever is soonerlater.

D. Failure to pay all fees on or before July 1within
30 days of the invoice date will result in a penalty of $5.00 per acre10% of the total fee due. Failure by a farm operator to pay all program
costs by August 1within 30 days of the invoice date shall be a
violation of The Virginia Cotton Boll Weevil Quarantinethis chapter.
If such farm operator fails to comply with these regulationsthis
chapter, the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Servicescommissioner,
through his duly authorized agents, may proceed to trap all cotton acreage
found in violation and initiate actions to recover all trapping program costs
through established policies and procedures identified in the Virginia Debt
Collection Act (§ 2.2-4800 et seq. of the Code of Virginia).

E. Acreage subject to emergency or hardship conditions
after all the growers' share of the program have been paid and prior to the
initiation of field operations may be considered for a refund. The refund
amount will be determined by the actual program cost per acre up to the time of
emergency or hardship.

F.E. The commissioner may purchase growing
cotton when he deems it in the best interest of the program, provided that
the funding necessary to purchase the cotton is available. Purchase price
shall be based on the FSA farm established yield for the current yearan
average of the previous five years of cotton yield figures, as determined by
NASS, for the locality in which the growing cotton that may be purchased by the
commissioner is located.

G.F. If necessary to prevent boll weevil
reinfestation of the Commonwealth, the farm operator, upon notification by the
commissioner, shall completely destroy all cotton determined to threatenthat the commissioner deems to pose a threat to the safety of Virginia's
cotton industry. If such farm operator fails to comply with these
regulationsthis chapter, the Commissioner of Agriculture and
Consumer Servicescommissioner, through his duly authorized agents,
shall proceed to destroy such cotton and shall compute the actual costs of
labor and materials used, and the farm operator shall pay to the commissioner
such assessed costs. No damagedamages shall be awarded the
grower of such cotton for entering thereonhis cotton field and
destroying any cotton when done by the order of the commissioner.

2VAC5-440-50

2VAC5-440-50. Conditions governing the issuance of certificates
and permits to allow the movement of regulated articles.

A. Certificates shall be issued by an authorized inspector for
movement of the regulated articles designated in 2VAC5-440-30 under any of the
following conditions when:

1. In the judgment of the authorized inspector, they
have not been exposed to boll weevil in any living stage.

2. They have been examined by the authorized inspector
and found to be free of boll weevil in any living stage.

3. They have been treated to destroy boll weevil, under the
observation of the authorized inspector, according to methods selected
by him from procedures known to be effective under the conditions in which
applied.

4. Grown, produced, stored, or handled in such manner that, in
the judgment of the authorized inspector, no boll weevil would be
transmitted.

B. Limited permit. Limited permits may be issued by an
authorized inspector for the movement of noncertified regulated articles
specified under 2VAC5-440-30 to specified destinations for limited handling,
use, processing, or treatment, when he determines that no hazard of spread of
the boll weevil exists.

C. Special permits. Special permits may be issued by the Virginia
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Servicesdepartment to allow
the movement of boll weevil in any living stage and any other regulated
articles for scientific purposes, under conditions prescribed in each specific
case.

D. Compliance agreement. Compliance agreements for the
movement of regulated articles may be issued by an authorized inspector. As
a condition of receiving a certificate or limited permit for the movement of
regulated articles,A compliance agreement may be issued to any
person engaged in purchasing, assembling, exchanging, handling, processing,
utilizing, treating, or moving sucha regulated article may be
required to sign a compliance agreement. TheA compliance
agreement shall stipulate thatinclude the required safeguards
against the establishment and spread of infestation will be maintained
and will comply with the conditions governing the maintenance of
identity, the handling, and the subsequent movement of suchregulated articles, and the cleaning and treatment of means of
conveyance and containers.

E. Use of certificates or permits with shipments. If a
certificate or permit is required for the movement of regulated articles, the
regulated articles are required to have a certificate or permit attached when
offered for movement. If a certificate or permit is attached to the invoice or way-billwaybill, and the articles are adequately described on the certificate,
the attachment of a certificate or limited permit to the regulated article will
not be required. Certificates or permits attached to the invoice, way-billwaybill, or other shipping document, shall be given by the
carrier to the consignee at the destination of the shipment, or to an
inspector when requested.

F. Assembly of articles for inspection. Persons intending to
move any regulated articles shall apply for inspection as far in advance as
possible. They shall safeguard the articles from infestation. The articles
shall be assembled at a place and in a manner designated by the inspector to
facilitate inspection.

G. Disposition of certificates and permits. In all cases,
certificates and permits shall be furnished by the carrier to the consignee at
the destination of the shipment.

2VAC5-440-110

2VAC5-440-110. Determination of reasonableness of costs for
services, products, or articles.

The commissioner, pursuant to § 3.2-711 of the Code of
Virginia, may determine that costs for services, products, or articles that
shall be paid by the persons affected when the commissioner determines that
those services, products, or articles are beyond the reasonable scope of administering
the lawVirginia Tree and Crop Pests Law (§ 3.2-700 et seq. of the
Code of Virginia).